The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1887-03-20
THE COMING CONFERENCE.
TOPICS FOR THE METHODIST DOzfT-
MES At THEIR YEARLY MEETING.


An Effort TO Remove the Time Limit to
be Made-The Interchange Beswee"
the Conference.-The New Denim les
Whore the Present Ones Are TO Go.
To-day many of the Methodist pastors
presiding over pulpits in this city will de-
liver their farewell sermons to their congre-
cations. The annual meeting of the New
ark Methodist Conference, to which they
are attached, will be held at Hackensack,
beginning next Thursday, and week later
the new appointments will have been
made. 1t is likely that some topics Of con-
siderable interest will be discussed with q
view of memorializing tine General Confer
ence, which is held every four years, for a
change in the prevailing Methodist law.
An effort will be made, in the first place, to
abolish what is known as the slime limit. !"
Under the prevailing law of the Church the
assignments of ministers to their pulpits
are made fer year; but by usage, each
dominy expects to remain for three years
in the pulpit to which the Bishop assigns
him. A strong sentiment in the Church
favors yearly appointments, with the priyi-
,ege to the minister of staying in his pulpit
as much longer as he and his congreg alton
please. AS matter of fact the system of
appointments is not what it used to be,
when the Bishop could send the best of
the pastors to the poorest of the parishes;
and thu congregations are getting into the
habit of calling the dominy they want as
churches of other denominations do. So it
is that many of the appointments that will
ha nj nod OF n and Of fho
Conference are already known.
Another topic that will engage the atteD.
ton of the Conference is that of transfers.
Each Conference can now dismlas its pas
tors to whatever other Conference it plesses:
and he must be crowded in whether there
is room for him or not. The transfer of
Rev. Mr.. Snodgrass from Kansas to this
Conference has dawn attention to this
defect of the system. A body of the
ministers are prepared to urge that t.ans-
fers shall be made only to fill vacancies in
the Conferences made by the death or re-
tirement of dominy of equal standing
with the one transferred. An effort will be
made TO pledge the coming Confer
ence to the urging of both these reforms.
The pastors of four of the churches in
this city have served the three years custom
allows them to remain in one pulpit; and
" Ill make u TOUR OIL Inc WUrlu iOE u year.
Rev. MIR. Snodgrass of Kansas, will sue
coed him. Rev. Mr.. Atkinson will leave
Trinity's pulpit to go to the Halsey street
church in Newark, and Rev. James Mont
gcmery, now of Paterson, will come to
Trinity. Rev Mr.. Burr will leave
Centenary to go to the Market street
church, Paterson and Rev. George
W. Smith, now of Westfzld, will succeed
HIM. Rev. Mr.. Hoagland leaves the Lafay-
cite Church to go to Centenary of New
ark. and Rev. Mr.. johnson, now of st.
Luke's Church, Newark, will come to La
fayette. Other notable changes will be of
Rev. Mr.. Spellmeyer, from Orange to Mar
ket Street Church; Rev. Mr.. Mann, of
Bloomfield, will go to st. Luke's, of New
ark.
Several of the ministers express regrets
that the Conference is to be held in Hack
sack. The congregation there is too poor,
it is said, to take care of its own dominy,
and the visiting dominies will have to be
provided for by families connected with
churches of other denominati ons.